


One More Night Beneath the Stars

by Arxsia



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, Ballroom Dancing, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Ties That Bind Zine, Zine: Ties That Bind (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 05:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17502923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arxsia/pseuds/Arxsia
Summary: Trapped in the Realm of Darkness, alone, Aqua starts to see visions of her best friends. She misses them so much, would it be so bad for her to indulge in one... just once?





	One More Night Beneath the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> My submission for the Ties That Bind Zine! It's a free zine on Gumroad, featuring 200+ creators (artists/writers/editors/cosplayers) and it's really a great zine full of love and talent and hard work. Check it out if you can and give it some love!!
> 
> Thank you so much to Destiny-Islanders and Novallion for organizing this zine! It gave me an opportunity to not only write something (which I haven't been able to do in quite a while) but also write something a little different. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
> 
> Hope you like it too! :D

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Time means nothing and everything in the darkness. Her lungs burn from the thick, suffocating air of the abyss.

What she wouldn't give to turn back time. How she longs to spend one more night beneath the stars with her best friends. How she aches for freedom.

She sighs, closing her eyes. “I'm doing it again.”

“Aqua.”

That voice. Impossible. Her head shoots up in alarm as she spins around, eyes widening in shock as they watch Terra descend the steps of the castle behind him. “It can't be! What are you doing here? You should be in the realm of light! Oh no, did you not make it out? Has the realm of light—”

Terra doesn't answer for the longest time, and the silence makes her really look at him. He's not dressed in his usual clothes, or even in his armor. Instead, Aqua sees fitted black pants and shiny dress shoes, a pristine white shirt under a shimmering, gold-adorned vest, a black suit jacket with the long coat tails, and a perfectly-knotted satin tie to top it all off. Is this her mind playing tricks on her again? Terra couldn't  _ really _ be here, could he?

“Come on, Aqua, we’ll be late.” He offers her his hand, but she hesitates, afraid he'll disappear if she takes it. But then, that would be a good thing, wouldn't it? It would mean he isn't actually here, trapped in the darkness like she is.

“Aqua!”

Oh no. Is  _ Ven _ here too? Slowly, she turns, growing more confused when she sees Ventus standing a few feet away, dressed just as fancily as Terra and holding up three small wax-sealed envelopes.

“Aqua, did you forget?” Ventus waves the envelopes, smiling. Goodness, how she’d missed that smile. “Cinderella invited us to her wedding ball, as thanks for all our help.”

Cinderella? Wedding ball? Looking up, past Ventus, Aqua’s shocked to no longer see the shattered pathways, the floating pieces of broken buildings twisting in the distance, or the gaping holes of the void. Instead, she sees the castle’s courtyard, intact, with a glistening gate, beautiful greenery, and a flowing fountain.

“I don’t understand,” she mutters to herself. Is she dreaming? Hallucinating? Is the darkness manifesting illusions from her innermost desires like some sort of bittersweet torture?

The gentle touch to her bare hand startles her. She looks back down at Ven, who is still smiling, still looking at her expectantly. A shock of blue catches her eye and she follows it down, down, a gasp falling from her lips when she realizes she’s dressed up too, layers and layers and asymmetrical layers of blue tulle making up the floor-length skirt of her ball gown. It has a strapless sweetheart neckline adorned with more layers of tulle and a corset of lace and sparkling stones with a lace-up back.

When…? How…?

“Aqua, let’s go!”

She nearly trips over herself as Ven tugs on her hand and starts to sprint up the stairs. Terra catches her other hand to keep her from falling, laughing at Ven’s excitement. It’s been so long since Aqua’s seen them smile, since she’s heard them laugh, since she’s had them at her side like this. She knows it’s not possible; they can’t  _ truly _ be here. This must all be some elaborate vision in her mind born out of desperation and loneliness.

…Would it be so bad to indulge in it? Just this once?

…

Inside, Cinderella rushes over to them as soon as she sees them, pulling them each into tight hugs. She looks so beautiful in her wedding gown, absolutely glowing with happiness and freedom. “Thank you all, so  _ so _ much, for everything you did for me. I’m so glad you came. Please, enjoy yourselves, and stay as long as you wish!”

Aqua watches her go, a hint of a smile on her lips. Ven tugs on her hand once more, pulling her and Terra deeper into the ballroom, filled with people dancing, chatting, and eating.

“Hey, food!” Letting go of her hand, Ven runs off in search of the buffet tables, disappearing into the crowd.

“Ven! Wait!” Aqua calls out, but Terra holds her back, shaking his head.

“He’ll be fine,” Terra says, offering her his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Aqua blinks, taken aback for a moment. A dance? “Oh! Yeah, okay.” She takes his hand and he pulls her onto the dancefloor. Together, they spin and twirl and glide across the floor, smiling, happy, the music deep and flowing, their troubles forgotten. The layers of her skirt billow around her like clouds. She loses track of time until Ven reappears at the end of a song, handing Terra a plate stockpiled with sweets. How it manages not to overflow is anyone’s guess. How Ven managed to maneuver a full plate of sweets through this crowd completely undisturbed is an even bigger mystery.

“Can I cut in?” Ven asks sweetly, holding his hand out to Aqua. Chuckling, she nods and takes it, as Terra shuffles away with the plate of sweets, shaking his head. “Don’t eat them yet!” Ven calls out to Terra before sweeping Aqua into a dance, the music that accompanies them fast and light. Her much taller stature makes it a little difficult for Ven to twirl her properly, but she appreciates his effort and even twirls him once herself.

When the song ends, they look for Terra, and when they find him, Aqua takes the plate of sweets, gently pushing Ven into Terra. “Your turn,” she says with a tiny little grin, edging away from any dancers that might bump into her.

“What?” Terra looks down at Ven, who shrugs and grabs his hand.

“Sure, why not? Come on, Terra!”

Aqua laughs, watching Ven pull Terra away onto the dancefloor. She can’t wipe the smile off her face as she watches them dance. For the first time in a very long time, her heart feels light, unburdened by the tragedies that befell them all, if just for this one moment.

They return to her at the end of the song, Ven with a glint in his eye that makes her curious. “What is it?” she asks, but he says nothing. He takes her arm and pulls her and Terra outside, into the gardens, until they find a nice, wide-open spot where they can sit in the grass and share the plate of sweets.

Above them, the night sky is perfectly clear, dotted with twinkling stars. They eat, they chat, and they laugh, like nothing had ever happened. When they finish the sweets, they lay down in the grass, admiring the night sky above them, Terra and Ven on either side of Aqua. Time passes. How much time, she can’t tell. It doesn’t matter. Time means nothing. It means everything.

“Aqua.”

She turns her head to look at Terra. “Yes?”

“Don’t lose heart.” Terra smiles.

“Don’t lose heart?” she repeats, confused. “What do you mean, Terra?”

“Aqua.”

She turns her head again, this time to Ventus. “Ven?”

“Don’t forget to wake me up.” Ventus smiles.

“Wake you up…?” Her promise. She promised to wake him up. Ven is still asleep. Terra is—well, he’s not here. Neither of them are here. She’s alone. She’s alone, in the Realm of Darkness.

Everything goes dark.

When she opens her eyes again, she’s standing alone on the steps of Cinderella’s castle, a broken pathway in front of her, the endless, open void and broken, floating town beyond. There’s no Terra or Ventus in sight. That’s good.

She looks down. There’s no fancy dress. Her Wayfinder is in her gloved hand.

Aqua sighs and clutches it to her chest. “At least they’re not here. So they haven’t fallen to darkness. I’ll take what solace I can from that.” With a bittersweet smile, she tucks her Wayfinder safely away and turns to continue up the stairs, on with her journey through the darkness. The memory of dancing with her best friends, of laying under the stars with them one more time, will carry her through to the end, to freedom, to  _ them _ .


End file.
